Building my first boat, a slightly modified hankinson 14' drift boat. quick question on hardware. Are Brass screws usable? I know they're a bit soft, but workable if I countersink correctly. Nobody around here stocks much in the way of bronze and they all seem to be perrenially out of the stainless sizes I need.

Here is a quandary I just posted on my blog (fretwaterlines.blogspot.com)

Ten years ago when we built the Julius, a replica of Buzz Holmstrom's beautiful, home-built 1937 expedition boat, Roger Fletcher and I ran into some serious design issues. As it turned out we had been trying to reconcile two set of photographs of the original boat, and the second set, I finally realized, had been taken after a subsequent owner had sawed two feet off the stern. Little wonder that our hull…

Well, after a few well-deserved setbacks, we riveted the final strake onto the Edith yesterday, and will roll her right-side up in an hour or two. She sure is cute--I fear all the boy boats will be hitting relentlessly on her. Here are a couple shots. Lots more on fretwaterlines.blogspot.com

Crystal Rapid in Grand Canyon gave the Ziz her first big hit. We went flying into the 2nd fang on the left side of Crystal with visions of exploding dories. Turns out the Ziz can take one on the chin and keep on grinning. Actually this pic looks like more of a frownie face.

It kills me that someone would leave a woodie sitting right-side-up in the dirt, uncovered for five years, totally neglected...but people do that kind of thing, and that is how I ended up with this beauty. It was not quite free on Craigslist. The good news is that all the varnish peeled ITSELF! its already bare wood, all I have to do is brush the crap off and vacuum it up! Then the real work begins though…